Not too long after the group had transformed themselves into objects, the door to the store would open, an older panther man entering. "What's all this? Why are these just lying around? No one's going to buy them if they're out like this! I have to hire better closers." He sighed walking over to the desk they were all on. "Uh...guys? What are we supposed to do about this!?" Nafster asked in a panic. "Calm down Naf, calm down, it's okay. We’re gonna be fine. Just relax." Canis' voice called through their mental connection. "I'm the one that’s probably in the most danger. You all should be safe. Just...well....be a hand puppet." The panther wasted no time in gather all the objects, putting them on the shelves with what they matched with. Amelia with the other craft supplies, Nafster in the toys along with Gabe, Canis in the fridge, Owen in the pens and pencils, and Tanis in the apparel. Canis' voice gave a mental shiver as he found himself in the fridge. "Eve.....everyone....okay?" He called out. Malis the plushy pup sat on his shelf, between two other toys, a gentle, joy and happiness filling him. "I'm still here." "Feeling...really....really good myself." Gabe called out weakly, the lion baseball cap having been set out for display on a cub mannequin. "Good over here." Nafster spoke up. "At least I'm not alone over here." "Think I'm okay here too." Amelia said. "Feel like I'm going to roll over and fall though..." "I'm as here as I can be sandwiched between all these other pens." Owen sighed. Canis gave another shiver. "You lot are all lucky. I get to spend the next few hours in the fridge if this cat doesn’t drink me." He grumbled. "Hey, you'll be fine. We can always just bring ya back from the can that's left." Malis teased playfully before pausing. "Um....does anyone think they could give me a snuggle?" He asked shyly. Gabe laughed. "Already going native Malis, hah, well you won't find that happening to me. I know what I am. I'm a baseball cap for the Roaring Lions." He said proudly. "Um....Gabe." The two twins deadpanned at the lion's declaration. "Aren't you guys supposed to be used to this kind of thing?" Owen questioned. "You sound like you're falling right into it!" "I don't know Owen, Malis has a point, getting played and snuggled does sound nice..." Nafster responsed "Yeah, and I could be used to sew a nice sweater! Or maybe a scarf!" Amelia chimed in. "I swear, all of you. It's been like ten minutes. Do you see what your making me do? I'm agreeing with the ass pen of all things." Canis' voice growled through their link. "Ah, come on Canis. We have your magic to fix us. Why not enjoy a little vacation and....embracing being items for awhile?" Malis called out. "That is sooooooooo dangerous." Canis growled quietly. "Even....well....even if I wanna slake someone’s thirst...." "Don't appreciate being call an ass pen but I get the point." Owen said back. "I like Malis' idea! It's fun to fantasize what I could be made into! Maybe a quilt! I'd keep people all nice and cozy!" "I bet your point is really sharp, considering your such a high quality pen." Malis complimented him teasingly. "And Naf, I bet you'd entertain all the boys and girls with a cute little puppet show." "Malis, don't encourage this." Canis grumbled. "Aww, shut up ya puppy soda. Just chill out for your panther owner. I'm sure he'll put ya to use soon." Gabe teased as they could all feel just how much Canis blushed at that. Their conversations would be cut off, two more people entering into the store. They emitted a powerful energy around them, a doe in a suit and husky coat along with a lion with a nice watch. "Oh, sorry! We're closed for another hour! I'm just here early to set up!" the shopkeeper said to them. The lion smiled smoothly as he stepped in front of the Doe. "Oh, no, no. You see, we were chasing after some errant items that belong to us. And we believe they may have fled here." He said calmly. "I was hoping to ask if you may have had any recent items added here, six of them." "I'm sorry but I don't know what you're talking about." he said adamantly. "There is none of that going on at this shop I can assure you! Everything here is all natural! I make sure of it!" Regulus lifted his head and sniffed the air. "Powerful transformative magic was used here recently. Are you sure there were not new items found here? We would be more then happy to purchase them from you....." He asked, his hands behind his back, even as both of his paws began to glow with a golden light as he gathered his magic. "I don't know anything about magic, none was used here! We strictly enforce against it!" the panther stood his ground. "There were items on the counter but that was just closers doing a bad job! No magic involved!" "What items?" Regulus growled out softly. "I think those items are what my lady desires for herself." "I don't know, they're put away! I didn't keep track where I put them because they're just items, not people!" Regulus let out a low growl. "You need to learn to control your tone among your betters, beast. But no matter. You will serve your new owners well." The lion said, extending his golden paw towards the feline as he unleashed his full power on the poor cat. "Gah! What did you...DO!" he shouted out, falling down onto his hands and feet from the blast. He felt his body starting to become larger, his hands shifting into large paws with claws sticking out from the tips. His larger body would cause his clothes to tear off him. The panther's teeth became much sharper, the fear in his eyes changing into pure feralness as he his mind succumb to his animal instincts. The lion watched as he saw the intelligence slip away, walking forward and reaching out to stroke the feline’s head gently. "There we are kitty. Good boy. Good. Now. Find the items you put away. Sniff out the magic on them for me. Be a good cat for your owner." It nodded, fully understanding his new master as the cat didn't think of himself as anything close to a shopkeeper now. He was a loyal servant to his master. And he wanted to make sure he obeyed all his owners had to say. "Very excellent choice Regulus." Elaine complimented. "Saves us the trouble of getting the answers out of him, and having a loyal servant to sniff out these magic user's disguises!" Regulus bowed is head deeply to Elaine. "Thank you my lady. You honor me with your words. Would you like me to remake this cat into a gift for you once its task is completed?" He asked her, before snapping his fingers. "Panther. Find them. Now. Lead us to them." "Perhaps that will be a good use for them once their main purpose is fulfilled." Elaine nodded. Meanwhile, the panther started sniffing around slowly, growing as it did so. He stopped around the toy section, sniffing at the snow leopard puppet and lab plush. "It appears our little pet has already found two of them." Elaine smirked as she sauntered over. "Uhm...guys...?" Nafster asked out worriedly. "I think we're in trouble!" "Oooooooh crap baskets." Malis though, a mental 'gulp' slipping through the canine's thoughts as the lion walked over. "Cleaver cleaver, you already want to be nice items for my lady. Such considerate items you are." He said as he gently reached out and grasped the hand puppet and the plushy. Regulus gave the plushy a tight hug to his chest before slipping his hand into Nafster and making him start waving his paws and look about the room. "Oh man...this feels so good!" Nafster said out loud, starting to giggle. "So fun to be played with! I'm putting on a show! Entertaining everyone!" "Nafster, you gotta calm down!" Owen shouted over nervously. "You're a snow leopard not a toy!" "Such a good little puppet you are. A pretty, handsome little puppet. So eager to entertain all the kittens and puppies." Regulus said playfully to the puppet in his paws. "Why, can't you remember being stitched together in this very shop, with your little friend, puppy plush right here?" The lion asked as he hefted up Malis, who was on cloud nine from the hug, not even able to put his bliss into words as he strained to come back from it. "That's...that's right." Nafster thought to himself, memories of coming on the train earlier leaving him, instead being replace by being sewn together in the shop by its owner, meant to entertain...he was just a puppet after all. Regulus smiled, reaching up and stroking the little puppet's head with one claw gently. "Good toy, settle in. We'll get you well taken care of." He said before looking at the cat. "Now, the next objects please my sweet kitty." He ordered. The panther continued sniffing around, this time going up to the hat resting on the mannequin, snarling at it looking back up towards Regulus. Regulus laughed as he walked over with a smile on his muzzle, reaching up and playfully putting the hat on his head. "Huh, not my favorite team, but not bad at all. What do you think my lady? Do I look good?" He asked happily, Gabe let out a yowl of joy as he was worn, as he was put to use. This was what he was supposed to be. A hat. A good, proper, quiet hat. "I don't think the hat suits you very well dear." Elaine commented shaking her head. "Makes you look like a child. But considering the circumstances I'll give you a pass." Regulus playfully pouted, a frown on his muzzle. "Awwwwwww, okay my lady." He murmured before glancing at the cat. "Good boy kitty, go find us the next one." He ordered firmly. The cat purred, sniffing out more of the recently transformed objects. This time, he would go at the ball of yarn. Unlike before, he began to play with it, tossing it around. "Oh wow, I'm a toy! I was hoping to be made into a sweater but this is fun too! I get to bring joy to this kitty!" Amelia cheered happily. Regulus laughed and smiled as he walked over as he watched the cat batting around the ball. "Awwww, you like your toy little kitty?" He asked teasingly to him as he batted at the ball of yarn. He looked up, seemingly happily as he continued to play with it, eventually putting it in his mouth and giving it to his lion master. As fun as it was he had a job to do! And that job lead him right to the office area. "Look kid, I don't know what's going to happen but I hope you can fix this!" Owen said over to Canis, the only other person left not taken by the two. Regulus smiled softly as he began to follow after the feline with a smile, casually tossing the plushy in his arms. "I can't, I can't break my own magic." Canis whimpered softy. "They shouldn't be able to find us so easily." "Well they did!" Owen said back. "Figure something out before it's too late!" The feline knocked over the case that Owen was in, picking it up in his muzzle, chewing on it angrily before dropping it in front of Regulus. "I'm trying to!" Canis called out to him, trying to think of just what he could do to get them out of this situation. Regulus smiled before reaching down to lift the container, reaching in and jostling the pens before his paws grasped Owen and lifted him up, casually clicking him to extend his tip. "Well, well, a mighty fine pen here." Owen felt his will finally break from all the clicking, wanting nothing more than to be used to write. A letter, a note, perhaps even on an important document! "He'll be quite useful to keep track of going over who is who." Elaine commented. "He'll see much more use than he would of ever had before." Regulus smiled as he reached over to grab a piece of paper and began to write out a list with the new pen. "Mhmmmm, you are quite useful, and brown ink, so unique." He said with a chuckle as he began to jot out a list of each item, making sure to help Owen settle in. The feeling of being used made Owen feel like he was fulfilling a purpose. Like he was put a messanger to send words to paper. It felt good to be used...to be useful... "And then there was one..." Elaine said with crossed arms, noticing the panther had started scratching at the fridge. Elaine walked over, seeing the "Canis Cola" inside and a devilish smirk form across her muzzle. "So you're this Canis I've heard so much about." she commented, taking the can out. Canis shivered as he felt her hand close around him and pull him out. "Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap, let me go, let me go!" he hissed mentally. "How kind of you to make yourself into a drink." Elaine said down, looking at the cartoon logo. "I am parched after having to find all of you." she said, cracking open the can and taking a sip. Canis let out a mental squeal as he was cracked open, the intense flavor, mixed with the feline's magic starting to wash into her maw. "Ah, delicious!" Elaine let out a happy sigh. "You make a much better drink that some brat. You should do it more often." Elaine commented, turning her attention back to Regulus. "I believe we are all done here." Regulus smiled and bowed his head deeply to his mistress before patting his leg. "Come here kitty. You've done very, very well." He said happily. He offered a purr, walking up and resting his head against the lion's leg. "Alright, let's take this things back to the office, they could make for good decor or employees. I haven't decided which. I do know I want those sons to send a message to the dean of that academy." Regulus reached down and started to gently scratch the cat's head soothingly. "Of course my lady, I am ready to help you." He said happily. "Change that cat into something less noticeable." Elaine ordered. "We don't want people suspecting us of what went on here. Walking out with a giant panther is sure to raise some red flags." Regulus groaned softly but nodded as he reached down to pat the panther's head, letting his magic wash into the feline. "Come on little one, let's make you something a bit smaller. How about a nice little keychain for me." He said happily. The panther's body went still as it rapidly shrank down. His fur become simple paint on medal, eyes becoming still with a small loop on its back. "You can turn it back later, for now we should get out of here before someone notices. Don't want more trouble on our hands than we need." Regulus smiled as he lifted up his new little feral panther keychain and smiled before looking at his mistress. "Don't you have too many objects to carry home?” He asked playfully. "We'll get them there." Elaine said back. "Now come along, let's get moving before someone shows up." Regulus nodded as he scooped up the yarn ball and added it to the collection of items in his paws before walking out after Elaine. ***** Elaine and Regulus had made their return to Elaine's offices in Lunar City, a group of animals turned objects in tow. They were careful to not leave a trace behind, not being in the mood to be followed. Once they were there, Elaine and her associate plopped all the objects onto a table that was already set out. The puppet, ball of yarn, pen, hat, and lastly an empty can all in bliss from being used, unaware of any of their surroundings, let alone what they used to be. Elaine sat down in her large chair and smiled. "Such a lovely collection, wouldn't you say?" Regulus rumbled, his eyes roaming over the objects as he nodded his head proudly. "Yes my lady. All very lovely items." He said happily to her. "Almost a shame we have to change them all." she commented. "But we want our message to be sent. Going to be needing a little more extra help if we want to start expanding here, so which two are going to be lucky enough to join our ranks..." Elaine looked at all the objects. "Any suggestion?" Regulus' eyes roamed over the items. "I would say the can of soda, but you seem to have plans for it and the plushy." He said idly. "Ah yes, I'm sure their father misses them. It would be rude of me to keep him from them for so long." a devious smirk formed across the doe's face. "But perhaps their friend would make an excellent messenger to deliver them to him. Bring forward that little hat." Regulus smiled and nodded his head as he moved over and scooped up the hat. The object starting to shift into a dazed, vacant, confused little lion boy as he was carried over to the doe. "I don't believe we've had to pleasure of meeting earlier." Elaine looked the lion up and down. "Welcome to your interview." Gabe blinked in confusion. "Um....what....where am...why am I not being worn?" He asked slowly. "Because silly, you're going to be our official messenger boy." Elaine said back. "It's truly an honor I'm sure, working for someone of my stature!" The little boy stared at her before pointing at himself. "Me....messenger. But I.....Hat?" He asked her, sounding almost shy "No no, no hat. But I don't think that a lion will make a good messenger, perhaps a horse could suit you better? And let's get that hattiness out of you, besides...you were always our equestrian messenger boy." she said with glowing eyes. Leo blinked, staring into her glowing eyes. His form slowly starting to change, going from a proud lion, to a cute looking little horse boy. His fur turning to a downy lair of hair on his body, still bright gold as the boy blinked and rubbed his head. "Huh, oh, I'm so sorry, what was the question? I think I nodded off just a little bit." The cute horse boy said bashfully. "Don't worry." she smirked. "I answered my own question. Be a dear and get me and Regulus coffee, get yourself something too. You're going to have a delivery coming up very soon." she eyed the objects on the table. The horse boy smiled and nodded his head happily. "Of course mistress. I’ll be back like lightning. Or my name ain't Lightning." The boy told her excitedly before scampering out of the room. "I like him, he has a lot of spunk. We can shape him into someone truly special." Elaine looked towards the lion. "Wouldn't you agree?" Regulus was grinning widely. "I agree. A cute little lad. Very obedient and eager to serve. I think he could do very well that way. Shall we wipe him and keep him this way my lady?” He asked her. "It's like you read my mind." Elaine smiled, finishing off Jet's transformation by scrubbing his old self from the world. No silly young lion, just the motivated horse Lightning. "Perfect. That's much better than what he was before. He has a real future now that he's working under the soon to be head honcho of this place!" the doe patted herself on the back. "I do think we're overdo for a new secretary don't you? Those duties shouldn't befall you anymore. The question is who..." The lion scanned through the items for a moment, walking over and picking up the pen. “What about this old thing?” He asked with a smirk on his muzzle. "Perfect. Keep him near the office supplies. Make a girl out of whoever that is too." Elaine said. "Keep the ratios nice and even." The lion nodded as he he eyed the pen before setting it down, letting his power flow into it to begin changing it back. The pen very quickly regained his height and clothes, the donkey standing in front of the two in a dazed state. "W-what happened...?" he spoke out groggily. "...why...why aren't I being written with?" Regulus smirked at him. "Silly thing. You aren't a pen. You're a secretary. You work for us remember?" He asked playfully. "I...am...?" Owen questioned. "Aren't I supposed to...write?" "You do write. Quite a lot. But don't you remember my sweet lady?" The lion rumbled, letting his magic course through the donkey. Owen's small tuft of hair became a lot longer, with it going into down to his shoulders. His facial features all softened, eyelashes longer and eyebrows thinner. His figure became a lot more curvy and narrow, giving the donkey an hourglass shape. Two breasts formed onto Owen's chest, manhood leaving between his legs to fully swap his sex. Owen's work pants became a skirt and heels over her hooves. Lastly, her top shifted into a blouse to become a donkey woman, and with a pair of glasses she looked like quite the go getter of an office worker! Regulus smiled at her as he watched the changes wash over him, or rather, her now. "There we go, are you feeling better now?" He asked, crossing his arms. "You zoned out for a bit there." "Y-yeah. Sorry about that!" Owen gave off a giggle. "Had a little headrush there!" "Now, your performance review has gone great today. And we are very excited to keep you with the company." Regulus told her. "As of today, you've been promoted to personal assistant and secretary for our esteemed CEO, your desk will be right outside, alright?" He asked "Oh!" Owen giggled. "Thank you so much! I didn't expect that! I'm so happy" she clapped her hands together. "I'm going to get a desk tag to display for visitors "Jazmine Glade!" secretary to the CEO! This so so cool!" Regulus smiled and nodded. "Excellent. Excellent. Well, I won't waste your time here. You can go get settled into your new desk and position, and I hope you have a great rest of the day." He said happily. "Thank you two, I won't let you down." Jazmine bowed and exited the offices. "Excellent work. Now then...I don't think we have much need for any more employees do you?" Elaine asked her assistant. Regulus looked over at Elaine and shook his head. "No my lady. I believe Lightning and Jazmine will be more then adequate." He said happily. "That means we can focus on these last ones being our new supplies." she turned her attention to the unchanged objects. "Now then...what to make of you lot..." she pondered. "I suppose we need a box to deliver those two in. Let's make that out of that puppet." Regulus nodded and moved over and scooped up the puppet. "Up and at-em puppet boy, we need ya.: He called out cheerfully as he sent magic into the toy. The puppet regained its height and life, the snow leopard standing back up as he normally would, body drooping over swaying slightly. "H-hey...why aren't I...being played with...?" Regulus smiled at the former puppet. "Silly little fella. You aren't a puppet. You're a nice, big box for us to store things in." He explained to him. "I...am?" Nafster questioned, his body soon befalling transformation like the many before him. He curled into a ball, his fur trading off for cardboard as his insides became fully hollow. His head became flaps as the snow leopard was now nothing more than a brown box as his body complete squared out. Regulus smirked as he lifted up the box and gave it a gentle shake as he eyed it. "Heh, saves so much on postage when we can get crates for free." He said with a laugh as he carried over the box to his mistress. "Indeed it does Regulus." she said back. "Now then, we're going to want to make sure our delivery doesn't get damaged. Toss that yarn into the box. It'll make good packing peanuts." Regulus let out a laugh as he scooped up the yarn ball in his paws, batting at it playfully before lifting it up and tossing it into the air and into the box. The ball of yarn suddenly burst into dozens of styrofoam pellets that fell into the open box of Nafster. Amelia the lab rat was erased from the world, now a mere collection of packing peanuts to prevent the future contents of the box from breaking. Regulus smiled as he moved over to check, running his paw through the packing peanuts to check everything went well, and nothing remained of the rat. Sure enough, the rat was all gone! Nothing but styrofoam left behind. Elaine grew a wicked smirk, even cackling a bit. "And now that we saved the best for last. Those two pesky dogs." Regulus smiled softly as he looked up and smiled at his mistress. "Yes my lady. Would you like to do handle those pups yourself?" He asked. "I'm thinking they should be something their father can use." Elaine pondered out loud. "Perhaps a nice keychain for him to keep on him at all time, don't want them wandering off and running into us again after all." "No, no, we don't need that at all." Regulus said with a laugh, walking over to eye the two items. "Not like these two will care too much, if there is anything left in there anyway. "Exactly." Elaine stood up from her seat. "Now then, let's get them ready for shipping." she said smugly as her eyes sparkled. The lion nodded his head and flicked his paws as he released his magic over the two items as the can and plushy suddenly began to shift and twist before popping back into two living breathing puppies. "Aha, so these are two dogs I've heard so much about. You thought that lil' object trick would work on me didn't you? I've studied up on the stuff that goes on here, and I must admit it was a clever trick you tried to pull!" The one who had once been a can of soda blinked and looked at her. "Just let us go." He muttered softly, reaching up to rub his head. "Oh we will, don't you worry about that." she put her hands together. "I'm sure your father misses you, perhaps I'll give him a personal visit soon enough. I want to make sure my gift reached him after all." Canis blinked and stared at her for a moment. "What are you talking about?" He asked softy. "Oh my dear child, you're an important piece to my plan." she said. "I need the people of the city to know I mean business, and what better way than sending you two to the dean of Lunar Academy in a box?" Canis let out a snarl. "No, no you don’t need to do that." He said firmly. "You can just let us go." "Oh dear I think I don't need to do that." Elaine snapped back. "I can't have you go and fixing your other friends now can I? They make such good accessories and employees." she added on. "But rest I assured I will let you go!" Canis hesitated for a few moments, staring at Elaine for a few moments. "What.....why are you doing this?" He asked softly. "Easy..." Elaine got right up into his face. "I want to own that little school of yours. I'm a big woman with big plans, and they start there." Canis squeaked and nearly fell backwards. "You.....you don’t need that." He told her slowly. "Perhaps I don't." she stepped away. "But I WANT to!" she shouted out with glowing eyes. "So enough talk! It's time to send you packing, literally!" The pup let out a yelp as he was engulfed by her magic, shivering as his body slowly moved onto all fours, going ramrod straight as his fur began to grow shiny and sleek, starting to grow harder and harder as a silver chain came out of his back and he began to shrink down. "Perfect." Elaine looked down at him with a wide grin. "Don't worry, your brother will be joining you soon enough!" her eyes darted over to Malis. Malis let out a weak growl, though the lion’s magic kept him pinned in place. "You aren't gonna get away with this." He hissed. "My dear I believe I already have. I don't think two keychains are going to be able to do much to stop me! Your little friend warned me about you, so I need you two out of the picture if I'm going to make this all work. Don't need any heroes getting in the way of MY takeover!" The little pup glared at her. "Someone will remember us. They'll save us. There’s no way your gonna win." He said as defiantly as he could. "And then what? Are they going to change me? You two did a poor job of that!" Elaine laughed. "We'll just make sure to make better security for us, I'm sure more of your friends will love to volunteer for that." "No, we’d want to help you. You don't gotta do this to people. You can change." Malis said quickly, staring at her pleadingly. "You're right, I can change." Elaine said. "But I don't want to." she added on coldly, with glowing red eyes. "Now join your brother!" Malis shuddered, a quiet whine slipping from his jaws before, like his brother, his body began to change and morph, shrinking down as his fur began to harden into cold, solid plastic. A small key ring on a chain popping out of his back before he flopped over onto the table, perfectly motionless, a mirror image of the other keychain lying lifeless beside him. "Perfect." Elaine sauntered up to the two keychains, picking them up and holding them both by the chain. "You two are much better like this. None of that yapping anymore. Just two lovely keychains." she said, slowly putting them down into the box. Regulus rumbled happily as he watched. "They do make some very nice keychains my lady." He said happily. "Far better this way then a pair of annoying brats." "I must agree with you Regulus, I must agree." she smiled, closing the box on the two canine keychains. "I'm sure that dean will agree." Regulus chuckled at that. "Are you going to wipe them away?" He asked, cocking his head. "Not this time." she said back. "After all, I want to make sure that dean knows what I'm capable of. Plus, and call me crazy, I do enjoy the challenge they offer...but hopefully they put up a harder fight next time." Regulus laughed at that. "Brats like that, I doubt they'll quit. Shall I go and get Lightning to go and deliver this package for us when he returns?" He asked. "I have my doubts as well." Elaine smiled. "And perhaps one day that'll make them good employees with that kind of dedication, but for now, yes, get Lightning and make sure that dean gets this package." Regulus nodded and bowed to her. "As you say my lady." He said, heading out to get the horse boy, eager to serve his mistress as she desired. Elaine smiled, turning and looking out her window eyeing down the Lunar Academy itself with hands behind her back. "I hope you'll enjoy my gift to you dean. I'll be sure to introduce myself to you fully soon enough."